Humanitarian groups say protect Syrian children

Save the Children and Other Leading Humanitarian Groups Say
Protecting Syrian Children Must be Priority at Geneva
Talks

WESTPORT, Conn. (January 20, 2014)
— Save the Children and other leading
humanitarian agencies today published an open letter calling
on the parties to the Syrian conflict meeting in Geneva to
urgently focus on the plight of children.

The 14
signatories also include Antonio Gutteres, UN High
Commissioner for Refugees; Archbishop Desmond Tutu; David
Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee;
Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF.

The
letter marks the first time top humanitarian agencies have
come together to publically call on all sides to take
measures to allow lifesaving aid to reach children trapped
inside Syria and prevent them from being targets of
violence.

More than 11,000 children have died in this
conflict already, 71 percent of them killed indiscriminately
by explosive weapons used in towns and cities.

Save the
Children, the world’s leading independent organization
focused on the needs of children, wants the Geneva II
participants to make protecting children the first item on
their agenda. It called on all parties to commit to the
following:

• Allow lifesaving aid to reach children
inside Syria

• Protect schools and health facilities

• Prevent the use of explosive weapons in populated
areas

“Children in Syria are experiencing an unrelenting
brutality of war. Four million children have been forced to
leave their homes and children are frequent victims of
violence that leaves them severely injured or dead. This
tragedy is man-made, and it is within the power of the
warring parties to stop it,” said Save the Children
President & CEO Carolyn Miles.

“The first item on the
agenda at Geneva II must be protecting children,” Miles
added. "The parties have already demonstrated the power of
political will when they began moving chemical weapons out
of Syria. We need to see the same political will to ensure
that even if the fighting continues, children and other
civilians are no longer targeted."

“Save the
Children’s three-point plan to protect the children of
Syria is about ending the appalling situation that places
the most vulnerable directly in harm’s way. If parties to
the talks come together to make these three things happen,
fewer children will die. It is that simple,” Miles
said.

Save the Children has reached 900,000 people
through its regional response to the Syrian crisis,
including more than 300,000 within Syria Itself. The
agency’s response includes supporting mothers to ensure
babies are kept healthy and fed, preventing malnutrition and
providing communities with food, safe water, medicine and
shelter.

Save the Children is also working to help
children overcome their traumatic experiences through
emotional support and play therapy, and helping them to
return to getting an education.

The agency said that
approximately 4.5 million children inside Syria need
assistance.

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